Physical-virtual game board and content delivery system

ABSTRACT

A physical-virtual gaming system comprising a game board including a multiplicity of physical locations, a game overlay including a multiplicity of logical locations, and game pieces for moving throughout the logical locations. The system tracks the physical locations of the game pieces and translates these physical locations into the logical locations using pre-known physical-to-logical location mapping information. Game boards, game overlays and game pieces can be individualized with their own unique identifiers. As game pieces are moved, a game database comprising at least current game piece locations and the game state are maintained. Based at least in part upon the current game piece locations and game state the system provides actions including outputting any of virtual content and information on any of a shared or private computing device running a game app. Actions also include causing changes to game devices including wearables.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/528,494 filed on Jul. 4, 2017. The present application is acontinuation-in-part of the U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No.15/975,236 entitled INTERACTIVE OBJECT TRACKING MIRROR-DISPLAY ANDENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM filed on May 9, 2018. U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,158 B1issued to Bulsink on Jan. 2, 2001 is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to physical board games that are capableof tracking the movement of game pieces and connecting with computingdevices to provide simultaneous virtual gaming experiences includingretrieving and outputting information and content maintained by anentity on a remote system, where the timing of the retrieving andoutputting is based at least in part upon the detected movements of thegame pieces.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are several popular forms of entertainment, socializing andrelaxation including playing games, watching movies, going to themeparks, going camping etc. What is needed is a game that brings togetherelements from all of these forms.

Games can generally be divided between physical games and virtual games,where physical games are usually played in person with a physical boardof some sort at a table with multiple players. Virtual games aretypically played by a single player sitting at a computing device,although the single player may be connected and competing with manyplayers via the internet.

Although the advent of the VHS tape and DVD was considered by some to bea “movie-theatre-killer,” the movie industry has remained popular. Withthe significant advancements in technology, big-box office movies arealso being challenged by cable, internet and independent movies. Some ofthe video games are now even releasing their storylines as companionmovies, such as Doom, Pokemon or Wizard of Warcraft. What is evident isthat movies and storytelling remain very popular and the tools forcreating and distributing the movie content are advancing significantlywhile also democratizing through cost reduction.

Theme Parks and Amusement Parks are also continuing to experience growthin attendance and have become major destinations with on-site hotels forhosting family vacations. Theme parks like Universal Studios and Disneyare also incorporating movie brands into their parks, for exampleUniversal has Harry Potter, Transformers, Marvel Comics, etc. and Disneyhas its own Disney movies as well as now Star Wars and Avatar. Lego is awell-known toy company that also produces Lego movies and has severalLego Land Theme Parks.

Currently, enjoying physical games, virtual games, movies, tv dramas,theme parks, etc. is heavily compartmentalized and therefore tendstowards separate and distinct experiences. Using a Theme Park as anexample, the park guest enjoys significant physical experiences while atthe park, where the experiences such as rides and public spaces do notchange (they are not evergreen) and they are not personalized. Theseexperiences are also limited to park boundaries, both physical andaccess times. What is needed for both the Theme Parks and the guests isa means for extending and enhancing the guest experience. Extending is aquestion of where and when, therefore moving past the park boundariesinto on-demand experiences in the hotels and even the home. Enhancing isa question of how and what, where how a guest can have experiencesincludes new means as described by the present invention and the relatedbase invention. These new means include an INTERACTIVE OBJECT TRACKINGMIRROR-DISPLAY AND ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM (from the parent application)and the present invention of an PHYSICAL-VIRTUAL GAME BOARD AND CONTENTDELIVERY SYSTEM. Other variations of these teachings further extend to apark-wide gaming system that overlays onto the existing physical ridesand public spaces including means for providing guests with secretmessages and clues as well as tracking their movements and progress. Inthis way, the existing rides and public spaces are transformed becomingevergreen and personalized. The what of enhancing the park experienceincludes new themed challenges, secret missions, clues, competitions andsuch that are new ways for park guests to enjoy themselves.

Using a movie franchise such as The Fast and The Furious, a cable seriessuch as Game of Thrones, or a book brand such as Harry Potter as anexample entity, the present invention and related parent applicationdescribe means for allowing the entity/brand/franchise to engagecustomers at home with information and content wrapped into a physicaland virtual gaming platform. Customers can for example begin the gameexperiences, prior, during or after the release of new movies, cableepisodes, or books, all as determined by the entity and designed intothe game format. The opportunity to experience not-for-general-release,personalized, and/or pre-release content is expected to be a compellingdraw for customers. The present physical-virtual game board serves as anerasable storyboard that continually transforms based upon the entitiescreative vision, where individual players take on the characters of thefranchise or brand, for example presenting players with situations thatwill be faced by their favorite character in an upcoming release of themovie, cable episode or book. Players will have the opportunity to makechoices, face dilemmas, or solve problems prior to knowing how thestorytellers intend the character to act. Entities will have a uniquemeans to see how their fans think the characters will choose and act,possibly influencing the actual upcoming release of a movie, cable showor book. The opportunity to enjoy games and receive community-widerecognition as well as earn entity rewards including valuablecollectibles is also anticipated to be increase customer brand loyalty.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a physical-virtual board game that is acontinuation-in-part of a parent application for a novel mirror-display.Some of the benefits of the herein taught physical game include a commongame base capable of game piece tracking for which replaceable boardgame overlays can be inserted presenting an entirely new game, or anextension of an existing game. This concept is abstractly similar to thevirtual gaming idea of “instances” and “leveling.” These terms describea game where the player starts within a certain virtual locality with acertain lower complexity or competition level. As the playersuccessfully completes one level, a new level opens becomingincreasingly more challenging. The present invention teaches how to usegame overlays, virtual content and encoded ID game cards to simulatethis same increasing challenge while not requiring another entirely newgame. The present invention provides a means for a physical-virtual gameboard, where the physical game board overlay is replaceable paper thancan be printed at home providing an entirely new experience for examplematching the upcoming cable episode, and where the virtual game contentsuch as questions, clues, video/audio clips are continuously changing asdownloaded from the entity's cloud repository, such that the combinationof low cost upgradable game parts and virtual content creates anevergreen personalized gaming platform. The game pieces for the presentinvention also use a trackable base onto which a figurine is attached,where the present invention anticipates using a 3D printer to creategame piece figurines in the home, where the designs are created by theentity and downloaded for printing, similar to the game board paperoverlays.

Another feature of the present invention is that it uses electronics toautomatically track the movement of each player's game piece, where thegame piece is pre-associated with the player. This tracked movementinformation is transmitted to a companion computing device already ownedby the player(s), such as an IPad or Surface Pro tablet. On thiscomputing device, there is a game app that is capable of trackingcurrent game status and uploading information to, as wells as retrievingvideo/audio content over the internet from, the entity's cloudrepository. The present teachings anticipate that the repository forthis information and content would be maintained by entities such asTheme Parks, Amusement Parks, Movie Brands (e.g. Fast And The Furious)Book Brands (e.g. Harry Potter) Museums, our National Parks Association,the Boys and Girls Scouts of America, educational institutions, etc.These entities will be able to design at home games with pieces,storylines, questions, video/audio content that align with their themesand objectives. As players engage in the at-home board game, they willbe able to receive special content in real-time corresponding to theirjourney in the physical-virtual game. Using this approach, the at-homegame becomes evergreen and personalized. Furthermore, the entitiesmaintaining the repositories and publishing the games are provided a newand exciting way of engaging and learning more about their customers,with the ability to accumulate customer benefits for rewards andincentives.

In the parent application from the present inventor, a mirror-displaywas taught that has many useful features. The mirror-display forinstance included a display capable of outputting at least two spatiallyand/or temporally overlapping video sequences, where one of the videoswould be perceptible to the naked eye, while the other video(s) wouldonly be perceptible to a person wearing special glasses. These glasseswhere taught to be based upon: active shutter, polarization, or both.

Another useful feature of the mirror-display was that it included anobject tracking system comprising a camera and software for recognizingand tracking the movements of special articles controlled by a guest ineither two degrees of freedom (2DoF) or six degrees of freedom (6DoF).An example article is a Harry Potter Wand (as sold by Universal Studios)or LightSaber (as sold by Disney.) Other articles forms are possible,and by tracking the articles the guest was provided visual feedback forperfecting their article movements and for issuing commands to themirror-display. Commands were taught to have many purposes, especiallyretrieving personalized information and content from the entity'srepository (referred to as global and local eco-systems) as well ascontrolling the local environment, such as lighting, sound andanimatronics.

The present application teaches that this same mirror-display and itsalternates have use in combination with the board game, either as areplacement or an adjunct to the computing device already owned by theplayer(s). Among many other novel disclosures, the present inventionteaches the use of interactive wearables that are in communication withthe game app running on the computing device or mirror-display and thatprovide real-time feedback to the player/wearer in relation to theirprogress in the board game. These wearables can take on several formsincluding a necklace, wristband or watch, a sash or smart scarf, a hat,etc. and have the optional capability of communicating with companionactive shutter glasses. The present invention teaches how the game appis able to display video while synchronizing with the glasses such thatthe player receives “secret messages” that are otherwise not visible tothe naked eye. The player may also use a personal mobile device such astheir cell phone to act as game input and for receiving secret messages.The game board overlays are also taught to have the ability to revealtheir own secret messages using thermographic display technologycontrolled by printed conductive circuits.

Another significant feature of the board game as taught herein is theinclusion of several forms of collectible items, where players receivethis merchandise as a normal course of the game, a reward for gameaccomplishments, or through payment to the entities.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective drawing of the main components of the presentinvention, including a game board 10 with collectible game board overlay11, where game board 10 connects via data and power cable 10 c tocomputing device with game app 15. Computing device 15 connects tointernet 18 that provides access to both global environment eco-system40 and local environment eco-system 30. Computing device 15 alsoconnects wirelessly for example using WiFi with interactive wearable 16and mobile device with game app 17, where wearable 16 connects to activeglasses 14 a, e.g. using Bluetooth. Game board 10 tracks the movementsof game pieces 8 with separate collectible FIG. 8a and is able touniquely identify collectible game cards 13.

FIG. 2a is a front view diagram of multi-purpose glasses 14, as firstdescribed in the parent application from the present inventor. As firsttaught, multi-purpose glasses 14 had several configurations includingactive shutter, polarized (linear or circular) or a combination ofactive shutter and either passive or active polarized. Multi-purposeglasses 14 also include detector-communicator 14-dc for controllingmulti-purpose glasses 14 components and communicating with a controlsystem prior taught as a mirror-display 20 (FIG. 3) but now alsoincluding at least computing device 15 (FIG. 1) where componentsinclude: hinges 14-h, pads 14-p, active shutter or passive or activepolarization lenses 14-sl, hidden signal LEDs 14-led1, 14-led2 and14-led3, visible signal LEDs 14-led-x, camera 14-cam, audio outputs14-a1 and 14-a2.

FIG. 2b is a front view diagram of active glasses 14 a and interactivewearable 16. Active glasses 14 a and wearable 16 are an alternateimplementation of multi-purpose glasses 14 and together include themajor components and functions of related multi-purposes glasses 14.

FIG. 3 is a combination pictorial representation and block diagram ofalternate game board 9 that uses alternate collectible game pieces 7 aswell as collectible game cards 13, and electronic turn device 6. Alsoshown is mirror-display 20 as first taught in the parent applicationfrom the present inventor. Mirror-display 20 is capable of scanning bothgame pieces 7 and game cards 13 for unique identification, wheremirror-display 20 is connected to the internet 18 for accessing both theglobal environment eco-system 40 and local environment eco-system 30,and where mirror-display 20 uniquely responds to game pieces 7 and gamecards 13 and communicates with game move selector 6.

FIG. 4a is an alternate embodiment mirror-display 20 a comprising alower cost object tracking system 24 a that is only capable of capturingvisible light images, and a lower cost passive transflective layer, allas first taught in the parent application from the present inventor.Also shown are visible markers 13-a, 13-b and 13-c for adhering toarticle 12 providing trackable points for system 24 a.

FIG. 4b is an alternate embodiment mirror-display 20 b comprising amobile device such as a cell phone running a special app for causing thecell phone to mimic alternate mirror-display 20, all as first taught inthe parent application from the present inventor.

FIG. 4c is an alternate embodiment mirror-display 20 c, that is furtheradapted from alternate 20 b (that tracks article 12 in visible light) toallow the cell phone and app to track article 12 using IR light.Alternate display 20 c includes case 21 c with opening 24 c-o thatexposes cell phone camera 24 c-c, where mount 24 c-m is movable withinopening 24 c-o so as to cause visible light filter 24 c-visf and IR LEDs24 c-ire to optionally cover cell, all as first taught in the parentapplication from the present inventor.

FIG. 5 is a top view conceptual diagram of an alternative game overlay11 a with electronically switchable surface content, where alternativeoverlay 11 a comprises multiple layers such as a base and protectivelayer encasing the electronics and thermochromic inks, a conductivelayer 11 a-L2 with electronics for controllably heating thermochromicink, a thermochromic ink layer 11 a-L3 comprising a matrix orarrangement of thermochromic ink that transforms in color when heat isapplied, as well as a game overlay surface/protective layer 11 a-L4 thatis the visual top surface of alternative game overlay 11 a and comprisessimilar game board printed graphics as game board overlay 11 that isvisually apparent to the players.

FIG. 6 provides two figures (FIG. 2 and FIG. 3) from PRIOR ART U.S. Pat.No. 6,168,158 that is herein incorporated by reference. Included withthe two PRIOR ART figures are the NEW ART of the present inventionincluding trackable game base 8 b, game overlay 11 with marked locations(similar to chess board locations such as 3 in the PRIOR ART FIG. 2) andgame board electronics 10 b that includes a multiplicity of trackedphysical locations using the tracking matrix of send and receive coilsas taught in the PRIOR ART (see FIG. 3.)

FIG. 7 depicts an alternative game board 10-2 and game board overlay11-2 that employs NFC (near field communications) to implement bothphysical locations, such as 10-2 c 1, 10-2 c 2 and 10-2 cn as individualaddressable NFC readers that are polled by a combination of amicrocontroller and multiplexer, and game piece bases 8 b-2 as NFC tags.

FIG. 8 depicts an alternative game board 10-3 and game board overlay11-3 where the combination of the microcontroller and multiplexerconnect at least one NFC reader to multiple antenna, thus saving on thecost of NFC readers where the antennas can be produced using lower costprintable electronics. Physical locations, such as 10-3 c 1, 10-3 c 2and 10-3 cn are implemented as individual addressable NFC antennas, andgame piece bases 8 b-3 are implemented as NFC tags.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth,such as examples of specific components, types of usage scenarios, etc.in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure.It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the presentdisclosure may be practiced without these specific details and withalternative implementations, some of which are also described herein. Inother instances, well known components or methods have not beendescribed in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring thepresent disclosure. Thus, the specific details set forth are merelyexemplary. The specific details may be varied from and still becontemplated to be within the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a perspective drawing ofphysical-virtual game board and content delivery system 1. The maincomponents of the system 1 include game board 10 in communication withcomputing device with game app 15, where device and game app 15 arefurther capable of communications with remotely stored content andinformation, where communications include automatically retrieving anddisplaying information and content in response to the movement of gamepieces 8 as detected by game board 10. Communications additionallyinclude updating the remotely stored information regarding the presentstate of gameplay within system 1. As prior described in the parentapplication of which the present application is a continuation-in-part,the game board and content delivery system 1 are capable of extendingthe guest experience related to entities such as theme parks, movie andcable show producers, book brands, museums, etc., where the remotelystored content and information represents any combination of content andinformation maintained within either global environment eco-system 40and local environment eco-system 30, where eco-systems 40 and 30 havebeen extensively described in the parent application and will not bedescribed in detail herein. Regarding the interaction with content andinformation maintained in eco-systems 40 and 30, what is most importantis that this content and information relates to an entity such as atheme park and the experiences a guest may have or have had, e.g. withinthe park, such that the present system 1 is essentially extending theentity experience by playing a board game with interactive content andinformation, where the playing may occur before, during or after, forexample, a visit to the theme park.

Still referring to FIG. 1, additional main components of system 1include interactive wearable 16 that is in communications with computingdevice and game app 15 as well as active shutter glasses 14 a, such thatautomatic responses to the movement of game pieces 8 further includechanges to the state of either or both interactive wearable 16 or activeglasses 14 a, where wearable 16 and active glasses 14 a are preferablyworn by and associated with a single player of board game 10. Device andgame app 15 are also in communication with mobile device and game app17, where preferably device 15 is used by one or more players of boardgame 10, whereas device 17 is preferably used personally by anindividual player of board game 10. It is also possible that the device17 is a “shared-private” computing device, such as a mobile deviceincluding a tablet, cell phone or game console that is running someimplementation of the game app being executed on the “shared-public”device 15. Hence, the shared-public device 15 is substantially in allplayer's view and provides common virtual information, whereas theshared-private device 17 is passed around between players for exampleduring that player's turn and can provide unique information includingsecret messages to the individual player, where that individual playermay hold the device 17 such that its output (visual) information issubstantially blocked from the view of all other players. Since thepresent system is tracking game piece movements for updating the gamestate in a game database, it is further anticipated that the“turn-order” of players for moving on the board 10 is pre-establishedusing game app for example running on shared-public device 15. As thegame pieces 8 are then tracked by board 10, the game app 17 uses thepre-known game-piece-to-player association along with the pre-knownturn-order of players information to automatically determine whichplayer is to have control of any shared-private device such as 17,whereby this player's symbol, name, or otherwise indication can be shownon the UI of device 17 and even a code or fingerprint can be accepted toconfirm the player before providing any private information. Game appand device 17 is also useable for accepting a given player's uniqueresponse, for example an answer to a question or a choice to purchase oracquire game territory or assets, all as will be well understood bythose familiar with board games.

Referring still to FIG. 1, as will be obvious to those skilled in theart of computers and communications, the present invention prefers thatdevices 15, 16 and 17 all communicate over a wireless connection such asa wi-fi connection to minimize physical connectors and cables. It isalso preferred that the wi-fi system provides access to the internet 18and therefore eco-systems 40 and 30. It is also preferred that wearable16 communicates with active glasses 14 a using Bluetooth and that gameboard 10 communicates with computer device 15 via data and power cable10 c. However, as will be well understood by those skilled in the art ofcomputers, devices and communication systems, many variations arepossible without departing from the novel teachings of the presentinvention, as such the specific communication means herein taught areexemplary and meant to teach general methods and therefore should beconstrued as exemplifications and not limitations of the presentinvention. What is most important is that the main components of system1 are in real-time or near real-time communications and thereforecapable of giving real-time or near real-time responses to at least themovement of game pieces 8 upon board 10.

Still referring to FIG. 1, game board 10 further comprises game boardbase 10 a including game piece tracking electronics 10 b, wherereplaceable game board overlay 11 lays on top of electronics 10 b andbase 10 a, and where game players move game pieces 8 on top of overlay11. Game pieces 8 further comprise FIG. 8a attached to trackable piecebase 8 b, where piece base 8 b is preferably a passive device that isdetectable and uniquely identifiable by game piece tracking electronics10 b. As will be understood by those skilled in the art of both activeand passive devices and tracking systems, several options are availablefor use as trackable piece base 8 b and electronics 10 b, at leastincluding passive or active RF devices and systems. However, the presentinventor prefers the use of resonant circuit technology described inU.S. Pat. No. 6,168,185 entitled DEVICE FOR DETECTING PLAYING PIECES ONA BOARD as taught by Bulsink (see FIG. 6 for a more detailed explanationof the Bulsink patent teachings and how they are adapted to the presentinvention.) One variation the present inventor prefers is that the“number of elongate transmit and receive coils in the board” form adetection matrix that is sufficiently granular with respect to thepotential locations on the game board overlay 11 for placing a gamepiece 8. As will be understood by a careful consideration of the goalsof the present system, unlike the Bulsnik system that was a chess boardwith well-known and pre-established locations of game pieces(essentially a fixed grid of evenly sized and spaced rows and columns)the present invention anticipates that any given game board overlay 11will have a varied surface including multiple locations for moving gamepieces, where the sizes, spacing and juxtaposition of these locations isonly restricted such that the underlying sufficiently granularelectronics 10 b can accurately detect and determine a given game piece8 to be located on a specific location. The present inventor notes thatthe electronics 10 b is shown as exposed for simplifying the teachingsherein. As will be well understood by those familiar with electronicsand plastics, game board 10 a is preferred to completely envelope gamepiece tracking electronics 10 b and due to the contactless nature of thepreferred technology described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,185 or for exampleusing RF tracking, the enclosing case 10 a will not interfere game piecetracking.

Still referring to FIG. 1, as will be appreciated by those familiar withtracking systems, it is important that the overlay 11 is firstcalibrated with the electronics 10 b and the computing device and gameapp 15. For these calibration purposes, the present inventor prefersthat game board overlay 11 includes QR code 11 qr that is scannable bydevice 15 using an embedded camera on device 15, such that device 15uses the unique identification code to retrieve mapping informationregarding the pre-known layout of the overlay 11. As will be appreciatedby those skilled in the art of passive object identification, it is alsopossible that each overlay includes an embedded passive RFID, where foreexample a mobile device such as a cell phone 17 in communications withthe computing device and game app 15 can use native near fieldcommunications (NFC) sensors to automatically detect and determine andprovide to game app 17 the unique code/id of overlay 11 by sensing theembedded RFID. However, such a solution requires at least one player tohave access to a device such as 17 that includes an NFC sensor orequivalent, unless computing device 15 also already includes such asensor (which is currently not typical for tablets and laptops.)

Referring still to FIG. 1, the present inventor also prefers the simpleuse of a visual alpha-numeric code, preferably located on the undersideof the overlay 11, such that a player enters the alpha-numeric code intoa user interface preferably provided by game app 15. What is mostimportant is that each overlay has an identification means that isassociated with pre-known mapping information, where the mappinginformation is then useable at least in part to determine thecorrelation between the detectable physical locations using gameelectronics 10 b and the marked allowed game piece 8 locations ofoverlay 11, all as to be described in further detail below. For example,the mapping information relates game piece locations depicted on overlay11 with respect to the sufficiently granular matrix of for exampletransmit and receive coils based upon the teachings in U.S. Pat. No.6,168,185 comprising electronics 10 b. The present inventor furtheranticipates and prefers that this pre-known mapping information isretrievable by game app and computing device 15 from a remote datasources such as the global 40 or local 30 eco-systems accessed via aninternet connection 18. However, as will be well understood by thoseskilled in the art of information systems, the pre-known mappinginformation may also be provided using other methods such as a portabledata storage media provided with the overlay 11.

Still referring to FIG. 1, as will be appreciated by those skilled inthe art of computer systems and methods for calibrating any two physicalobjects, at least two types of mapping information are possible. In afirst type of mapping information, each detectable physical locationassociated with electronics 10 b is associated with a unique identifierin a data table, where for each unique physical location identifier zeroor one marked locations associated with layout 11 are then furtherpre-associated with each unique physical location identifier such that aunique physical location detected by electronics 10 b becomes a code forlooking up in the data table to determine a unique marked location onlayout 11 where a game piece 8 is located. In a second type of mappinginformation, each detectable physical location associated withelectronics 10 b and each marked location associated with layout 11 areassociated with geometric data such as an [x, y] coordinate of thecenter of each physical or marked location or [x1, y1], [x2, y2]coordinates defining the area of each physical or marked location suchthat a unique physical location detected by electronics 10 b becomesgeometric data for comparing to geometric data associated with the gameoverlay 11 therein allowing a marked location to be determined through amathematical comparison.

Using either or any type of mapping information for relating a physicallocation detectable by electronics 10 b with a marked location on gameoverlay 11, it is desirable to understand the orientation of the gameboard overlay 11 with respect to the game board electronics 10 b, forwhich at least four methods for determining the orientation arepossible. In the first method, the game overlay 11 is constructed withrespect to game board 10 such that it fits into game board 10 in only asingle orientation and therefore the orientation can be assumed. One wayof accomplishing this first method is to cause the game board 10 toinclude at least one angled corner that matches an angled corner of thegame board overlay 11, where many other like “contour-fitting” solutionswill be obvious based upon careful consideration. In a second method,both the game board 10 and overlay 11 may include indicative markings ofhow the overlay 11 should be inserted, where upon assuming the playerproperly follows the indicative orientation markings, the orientation ofoverlay 11 with board 10 can again be assumed. In a third method, aplayer can be directed to place a game piece 8 over a specific markedlocation on overlay 11, upon which a physical location as detected byelectronics 10 b is determined from which the orientation of the overlay11 to the electronics 10 b can be deduced. In the forth method, the gameoverlay 11 may further comprise detectable means like that includedwithin a game piece base 8 b (such as a resonant coil) such that thegame board electronics 10 b can also automatically detect theorientation of the overlay 11 by sensing the detectable means.

Regardless of the method chosen for determining the orientation of agame overlay 11 with respect to the game board 10 or the method chosenfor mapping physical locations detectable by game board 10 b with markedlocations on a game overlay 11, what is most important is that the gameoverlay 11 comprise one or more marked and pre-known game piecelocations that are determinable using at least in part game piecephysical location datum determined by the electronics 10 b including atleast the detected physical location within game board 10 above which agame piece base 8 b is currently located, where it is then alsopreferred that the determined game piece physical location datum furtherinclude either an identifier or unique identifier associated with thegame piece base 8 b.

Referring still to FIG. 1, it is also preferred that the game base 10includes its own unique identification code, like the overlay 11identification code prior described. In addition to the various methodsdiscussed for game app and computing device 15 to accept, receive orotherwise determine the overlay 11 identification code, the game base 10may also provide is unique code electronically preferably uponestablishing communications with game app and device 15. By providing aunique identification code for base 10, the system provides for multiplesizes and physical location variations between distinct game bases 10that are thus differentiated with a different identification code. Usingthis approach, when mapping the physical locations as tracked by thegame electronics 10 b to the marked locations of a particular layout 11differentiated by a unique identification code, it then is alsoimportant for the game app 15 to accept, receive or otherwise determinethe game board 10 identification code that is then used at least in partalong with the overlay identification code to retrieve the necessarypre-known mapping information.

Still referring to FIG. 1, once the marked overlaylocation-to-electronics detected physical location mapping is understoodby game app and device 15, as electronics 10 b detects for example whichindividual transmit/receive coils are affected by a particular gamepiece 8 b, the game app running on device 15 is then able to determinewhat marked location with respect to the mapped game board overlay 11the individual game piece 8 b is resting above and therefore also thenable to take some appropriate action. The present inventor anticipatesthat appropriate actions include at least any one of, or any combinationof: 1) retrieving content or information from a content database, oroutputting content through a user interface, where the content databaseis maintained either or both locally within the game app or remotelywithin eco-systems 40 and 30 (or otherwise an internet accessibledatabase) and where content includes any of video, audio, pictures,text, etc.; 2) updating a game database with respect to the change inthe location of the game pieces 8, where the game database is maintainedeither or both locally within the game app or remotely withineco-systems 40 and 30 (or otherwise an internet accessible database)where updating includes storing current game piece 8 locations,accumulating or calculating points, scores or any other informationrelevant to the game; 3) outputting action control signals for causing achange in the state of a game device including either interactivewearable 16 or active glasses 14 a, or 4) outputting action controlsignals for causing a change in the state a second computing device 17,such as a mobile computing device including a tablet or cell phone,running some version of game app 15.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art of the variouselectronic components described in the present invention, “changing thestate” of any given device is meant to be interpreted in the broadest ofsense such that any feature associated with any of the devices 15, 16,14 a and 17 or herein taught or anticipated game devices may beinitiated, actuated, controlled, altered, limited, and in any senseaffected, where preferably the affect is immediately or soon detectableby any one or more players of the board game 10, but at least the affectchanges a state of the device such that additional information in anyhumanly recognizable form at least including visual, auditory, tactileand olfactory is presented or further prepared for presentation at alater time to at least one game player.

Still referring to FIG. 1, as a careful reading of the parentapplication (of which this present application is acontinuation-in-part) will show, game devices other than 15, 16, 14 aand 17 may also be automatically affected by system 1, such asanimatronics, room lighting, an audio system and even electronicallycontrollable scent dispensers for effecting the olfactory senses.Animatronics comprise any robotic device or toy, for example including arobotic dog, cat, owl, alien figure, etc., where preferably theanimatronics is capable of movement and/or emitting lights or sounds.The present inventor further anticipates that many such animatronics mayalso be engaged by themselves as a toy but then also activated incombination with system 1, thus increasing their useful value to theconsumer. Animatronics, or in general robotics, are meant to include anydevice currently in the market or to become available in the market thatin general receives action control signals and performs functions, wherethe action control signals provided by system 1 can be in any knowncommunication form or protocol. Another example of a robotic device is aremote-controlled flying toy or a remote-controlled car, both of whichare capable of being automatically controlled by system 1 in generalresponse to the state of game play or timing and in particular responseto the real-time or near-real time detected movements of game pieces 2.

What is at least preferred is that as a player lands upon certain gameboard locations, computing device and game app 15 automatically displaysvideo and outputs audio of content either provided by eco-systems 40and/or 30 or relevant to the entity associated with eco-systems 40 and30 (including for example a theme park, amusement park, museum, school,etc.) What is further desired is that under some game-playcircumstances, additional exciting effects are created by for examplelighting up the LEDs forming interactive beads 16 b on wearable 16,sending a message to cell phone and game app 17 that causes a vibrationor audible output, activating room lighting and a sound system to forexample create the effect of lighting striking, or causing ananimatronic to begin moving or to speak a certain message. As will bewell understood by those skilled in the art of home automation, thereare many systems and device on the market today that allow for wireless,mobile device application control of home electronics includinglighting, sound systems, fans, etc., and any solution is sufficient andconsidered to be within the scope of the present invention.

As will be appreciated from a careful reading of the present applicationand the parent application, there are many benefits provided by thepresently taught physical-virtual game board and content delivery system1, especially as used in combination with either or both a local 30 orglobal 40 eco-system. However, as will also be appreciated there aremany benefits provide by the present system 1 that is not incommunications with either of eco-systems 30 or 40, and such the use ofthe eco-systems 30 and 40 should be considered as exemplary rather thanas a limitation of the present invention. Furthermore, game devicesincluding animatronics such as just described may be controlled byaction control signals exclusively provided by the game application 15or provided by either of the game application 15 or an eco-system 30 or40.

Still referring to FIG. 1, active glasses 14 a have a particular andspecial function as will be well understood by a careful reading of theparent application. This special function is to operate in such a manneras to reveal secret message 15-sm to the wearer as output for example bycomputing device and game app 15. While the associated parentapplication described many ways for revealing secret messages 15-smusing multi-purpose glasses 14, (see present application FIG. 2a ) wheremulti-purpose glasses 14 operated either as active shutter, polarizingor active shutter and polarizing for the purposes of revealing secretemessages 15-sm, the present teachings prefer that active glasses 14 arely upon active shutters to reveal messages 15-sm. One importantconsideration is that system 1 rely upon computing devices owned by theplayers or player guardians to be loaded with the desired game appbecoming computing device and game app 15. Using this limitation,computing device 15 is also expected to be un-modified and therefore notcapable of emitting polarization modulated secret messages 15-sm,therefore requiring that glasses 14 a at least use active shutters toreveal the messages 15-sm. While the present application assumes activeshutter glasses 14 a, the present inventor has taught means for adaptingcomputing devices owned by the player or a player guardian such that theadapted device can emit polarization modulated secret messages 15-sm,therefore allowing the use glasses using polarization alone to revealsecret images 15-sm.

Still referring to FIG. 1, as will be well understood by those familiarwith imaging systems, human visual perception and active shutter glasstechnology, it is possible that computing device and game app 15 outputa sequence of images where the temporal combination is perceived as forexample to be uniformly white by the un-aided eye, but by using anactive shutter to block some portion of the sequence of images a secretmessage 15-sm may be revealed. To best understand this approach, it isuseful to know that a single image is actually made up of a spatialcombination of pixels colored as red, green or blue, where each pixel isof a varying brightness (e.g. where 0 is black or no brightness and 255is full brightness.) When spatially adjacent red, green and blue pixelsare output at an even brightness, e.g. 255, then the red, green bluecolors spatially combine to be perceived as white, as will be wellunderstood by those familiar with the art of video images. Furthermore,if a first image includes every red pixel set to e.g. 255, while everygreen and blue pixel is set to 124, then the first image will by itselftend to appear reddish in color. If then a second image is displayed inan alternating fashion along with the first image, and in the secondimage every red pixel is set to 124 while every green and blue pixel isset to 255, then while the second image alone will tend to look cyan,the first and second images in temporal combination will tend to lookwhite. Using this basic understanding, and as an example, device andgame app 15 on occasion preferably output video that includes at leastsome spatial area 15-sm that appears to be a first image(s) to theunaided eye (for example a white bubble cloud as depicted in FIG. 1 onthe screen of device 15) but is really a sequence or composite of othermultiple images that temporally blend to be perceived first image(s).Device and game app 15 are further capable of sending synchronizationsingles directly or indirectly to glasses 14 a such this same spatialarea appears as a second image, or secret message 15-sm to the wearer ofactive glasses 14 a by limiting the number of received images forviewing by the wearer. Active shutter control signals sent by device 15are directly received by multi-purposes glasses 14, as to be discussedin relation to upcoming FIG. 2a , or by interactive wearable 16 forconversion into second signals transmitted to and received by glasses 14a. As is well known in the art of active shutter glasses, these controlsignals are for turning off (opaque) and on (transmissive) the activeshutter and thereby blocking some images of a stream of multiple imageswhile transmitting other images of the same stream, where thetransmitted images are perceived by the wearer of glasses 14 or 14 a asa second image(s), or a secret message 15-sm.

As will be appreciated from a careful reading of the parent application,many variations for creating secret messages are possible and what ismost important is that some apparatus and method is used, e.g. unalteredcomputing device 15 and active shutter glasses 14 a, such that system 1at select times determined by the game designer, is capable ofoutputting secret messages 15-sm to a given player. As the carefulreader will also understand, secret message could also be transmitted asdata to the player via their cell phone and game app 17, or as audiosignals for example through speakers such as ear buds or what is knownin the art as “bone” speakers incorporated into the active glasses 14 a.Whatever apparatus and methods are chosen, it is also important thatduring game calibration the trackable piece base 8 b is first associatedwith a particular player, such that as the player moves their game piece8 to a given location as detected by electronics 10 b and communicatedto device and game app 15, game app 15 may then use the relationshipbetween the player, the game piece 8 and detected board location topreferably interact with eco-systems 40 and/or 30 but otherwise toprovide content and information responsive and appropriate to at leastany one of, or any combination of: 1) the player (pre-associated withthe game piece) 2) the player's game piece board location, 3) the boardgame state at least comprising the location of all other game pieces,and 4) any other information or status such as awarded points andaccumulated scores intended by the game designer and tracked in a gamedatabase running either on the game application 15 and/or on eco-systems40 and/or 30.

Still referring to FIG. 1, as will also be understood by those familiarwith wireless power transfer it is possible to further adapt electronics10 b to also transfer energy to game pieces 8, where game pieces 8themselves are further adapted to include electronics for causingchanges or outputs noticeable to the players. Typical well understoodforms of short range power transfer include inductive coupling orcapacitive coupling, where either technique is sufficient for thepurposes of the present invention. What is important is that the gamepieces are further capable of taking some action upon receiving anaction control signal from device and game app 15, for example emittinglight (such as through an embedded or attached LED) emitting sound (suchas through an embedded miniature speaker) or making movement (where someportion of the figure for example is constructed of what is commonlyreferred to as a “smart material” that changes shape in response toapplied electrical signals, including shape-memory alloys andshape-memory polymers.)

Still referring to FIG. 1, another anticipated benefit of the presentsystem 1 is that many of the components are both interchangeable andcollectible, including at least the piece FIG. 8a , game board overlay11, game cards 13 and bead 16 a, where the bead 16 a may be added orremoved from interactive wearable 16. The collectible aspect providesopportunity for the associated entity, e.g. the theme park, amusementpark, museum or school, to sell additional merchandise that also servesto keep the entire game and system ever changing. Another anticipatedbenefit is that the entity will design for example 24 levels of theboard game, where each level includes at least a different game boardoverlay 11, but also may require new game cards 13 and offer new FIG. 8a. If for example each level of the game could be upgraded every 2 weeksupon successful completion of the prior level, then the entity will haveprovided a year's worth of game levels. It is then anticipated that theentity will encourage the customer to sign up at least a year in advanceof their planned visit (e.g. to a theme park) thus providing thecustomer with enough time to play all 24 levels, receiving collectiblesand achieving rewards all as intended by the game designer. As will bewell understood, rewards can be provided in many ways at leastincluding: 1) new collectible beads 16 a for affixing to interactivewearable 16, 2) virtual points accrued as information on eithereco-systems 40 and/or 30, where the virtual points may be used before,during or after a customers visit, 3) other merchandise, 4) other gamefigurines or associated animatronics, 4) or even a control signal thatcauses interactive wearable 16 to blink its interactive beads 16 b in acertain pattern at certain times in certain locations, thus indicating acertain level of game accomplishment. As will be appreciated by thosefamiliar with business goals, having a tool such as system 1 forattracting customers to accelerate their purchases is highly desirable.This unique design of the present invention also provides the entitywith the opportunity of simply distributing digital information, such asprinter files and 3D cad files, where the customer may then print theirown new game board overlays 11, game cards 13 or game piece FIG. 8 a.

The present inventor further anticipates that system 1 in coordinationwith eco-systems 40 and/or 30 will manage the entire gaming experiencewith minimal staff involvement. For example, system 1 will preferablyinclude a user interface for outputting information to the players thathelps them review what levels they have achieved and when each level isreached eco-systems 40 and/or 30 will automatically request and evenconduct either: 1) the automated or semi-automated printing and mailingof for example the game board overlay 11, game cards 13 or game pieceFIG. 8a , or 2) the transmission of electronic files to the customer sothat the customer may then print their own new game board overlays 11,game cards 13 or game piece FIG. 8a . System 1 preferably also providesplayers with a review of their currently awarded points andaccomplishments, also providing the player with a user interface forconverting awarded points into other merchandise, where the request andshipping of this merchandise may also be fully automated by either orboth eco-systems 40 and 30 working in conjunction with the entity'sinventory control and order fulfillment system of the order fulfillmentsystem managed by some third party such as Amazon.Com, all as will bewell understood by those familiar with business processing automation.

Still referring to FIG. 1, collectible game cards 13 preferable includesome means for unique identification such as scannable QR code 13 qr (orany other apparatus and methods already described as alternatives togame layout QR code 11 qr.) While other passive and scannabletechnologies such as RF could be employed, a QR or bar code such as 13qr or 11 qr (associated with game board overlay 11) have a distinctadvantage in that images of the codes 13 qr and 11 qr can be capturedand decoded by the game app using the camera traditionally found on mostcomputing devices to be used as 15, such as an IPad or Surface Protablet. Regarding the detection of unique game cards 13 by the scanningof their QR or similar codes, the present inventor anticipates thatdevice and game app 15 will in response provide to players a clue,question, message etc., all similar to the purposes of cards used intraditional board games except that traditional card messages areprinted and therefore cannot change over time, player, game level andsituation.

In summary, the present inventor anticipates that at certain pointsduring game play, a given player be required to move their piece 8,select and respond to cards 13, watch and respond to video/audiomessages output on device with game app 15, receive and respond tosecret messages such as 15-sm or secret communications to mobile devicesuch as cell phone game app 17 or secret audible message transmitted toactive glasses 14 a (that include speaker outputs as will be reviewed inrelation to upcoming FIG. 2a .) Subsequent to any of these game-playerinteractions, it is anticipated that the given player may use a responseinterface, for example as presented on either the computing device andgame app 15 or any device in communications with the computing deviceand game app 15 such as a mobile device and game app 17 or a wearabledevice 16, to indicate some response, for example an answer to aquestion or a choice selection within a limited amount of time. It isalso anticipated that multiple players may be playing at the samelocation with the same board game overlay/level at the same or differenttimes, or that multiple players may be playing at different locationswith the same board game overlay/level at the same or different times,where their accumulated game play is tracked on eco-systems 40 and/or 30and made available to all players for review for example from an userinterface presented by device and game app 17 or mobile device and gameapp 17. The present inventor anticipates that system 1 serves as aplatform for a MMO (massively multi-player) game, where many players areplaying throughout the world at various times at various levels allcompeting according to the intentions of the game designers.

What is important to understand is that system 1 maintains a gamedatabase necessary for processing the game as intended by the gamedesigner, where the game database includes any information determined orreceived by system 1 such as game piece 8 locations, player-to-gamepiece 8 associations, player responses to game app 15 outputs,calculated points, scores or any other game information. System 1 can beoperated in different modes including: 1) a local mode without anyaccess to either of eco-systems 40 and/or 30 where the game database ismaintained by the game app and computing device 15 and all game outputsincluding content, information and action control signals are determinedand provided by the game app 15; 2) a remotely updated local mode wherethe game app and computing device 15 exchange some datum with either ofeco-systems 30 or 40 such as for initially establishing the game playprior to game commencement or for updating final game results after gameplay where the game database is maintained by the game app and computingdevice 15 and at least some information comprised with the local gamedatabase is shared with the remote eco-system, and where all gameoutputs and action control signals are determined and provided by thegame app 15, and 3) a remote mode where the game app and computingdevice 15 is in substantially real-time communications with either ofthe eco-systems 40 and 30, where any portion of the game database ismaintained on either or both of the game app and computing device 15 oreco-systems 40 or 30, and where any game outputs and action controlsignals are determined and/or provided by any one of, or any combinationof the game app 15 or the eco-systems 40, 30.

Referring next to FIG. 2a , there is shown a front view diagram ofrepresentative multi-purpose glasses 14 as they were first described inthe parent application. In summary of the teachings in the parentapplication, multi-purpose glasses 14 comprise a frame 14-frame andtemples 14-temples, where 14-temples are hinged such that they may beopened orthogonal to 14-frame for fitting over a player's head and ontotheir ears. The preferred multi-purpose glasses 14 further include: 1)hinges 14-h that are capable of sensing whether 14-temples are currentlyopen, and therefore wearable, or closed and therefore not wearable, 2)pads 14-p that are capable of sensing whether 14-frame is resting onguest 2 nose or not resting on nose, 3) left and right active shutter orpassive or active polarizer lenses 14-si that are capable of alternatingbetween blocking or receiving image states as prior discussed, 4) hiddensignal LEDs such as 14-led1, 14-1 ed 2 and 14-led3, 5) visible signalLEDs such as one or more 14-led-x, 6) camera 14-cam, 7) audio outputs14-a1 and 14-a2, and 8) detector-communicator 14-dc comprisingadditional orientation and location detectors, haptic or kinestheticcommunication, a computing element and communications elements forcommunicating with hinges 14-h, pads 14-p, hidden signal LEDs 14-led1,14-1 ed 2 and 14-1 ed 3, visible signal LEDs 14-led-x, camera 14-cam,audio outputs 14-a1 and 14-a2 as well as mirror-display 20 (see FIG. 3.)

Referring now to FIG. 2a and FIG. 2b , one major difference betweenactive shutter glasses 14 a and multi-purpose glasses 14, is that activeshutter glasses 14 a must at least included an active shutter for lensesalong with the processing for receiving control signals for indicatingthe opening and closing of the active shutter in synchronization withthe display of video on computing device and game app 15, where withmulti-purpose glasses 14 this was optional as polarization could also beemployed. The functioning of active shutter glasses is well known in theart and were also discussed in detail in the parent application. Asmentioned in the prior paragraph, and in the parent application,multi-purpose glasses 14 may be either active shutter or passive oractive polarizer lenses. The parent application also teaches thatmulti-purpose glasses 14 can have both active shutters and passive oractive polarizing lenses. Having both is also optional for activeglasses 14 a, namely, what is most important is that active glasses 14 ainclude and active shutter, but they may then also optionally includepassive or active polarizers. While an active shutter is sufficient forglasses 14 a to receive secret messages 15-sm as output from computingdevice with game app 15, all as prior described, there is at least oneadvantage to also including polarizers (e.g. either linear or circular,either passive or active.) The physical-virtual game board and contentdelivery system 1, and all its components such as active glasses 14, hassignificant value without requiring any additional uses, all as will beevident from a careful reading of the present invention. However, it isanticipated that a family with players of the board game 1 willultimately be visiting the associated entity, for example a theme park,amusement park, museum or school. At his entity, especially theme parks,amusement parks and some museums, there may already be activities thatprovide 3D video experiences. Typically, these 3D experiences rely uponglasses that use polarizers and not active shutters. If active glasses14 a also include the necessary polarizers, then while at a theme parkfor instance, a particular 3D ride can send out signals to always keepthe active shutter open on glasses 14 a, such that the 3D left-rightimages are then received properly through polarizers added to activeglasses 14 a. This has at least one advantage for the wearer in thatthey can keep using their own active glasses 14 a when at the parkwithout switching these glasses 14 a for theme park 3D polarizingglasses when going on the 3D rides.

Still referring to FIG. 2a and FIG. 2b , a second difference betweenactive shutter glasses 14 a and multi-purposes glasses 14, is that themajor functions that were entirely incorporated in multi-purpose glasses14 a have been divided between active glasses 14 a and interactivewearable 16. There are many advantages to this dividing as to beexplained herein, but one significant advantage is that the cost of theactive shutter glasses 14 a will then be less than the cost ofmulti-purpose glasses 14. While the additional cost of the interactivewearable 16 is expected to more than make up this cost difference, hencethe combination of 14 a and 16 will most likely be more thanmulti-purpose glasses 14 a, interactive wearable 16 has its ownindependent value, especially because of the features it has adoptedfrom multi-purpose glasses 14 a and it would not be advantageous torepeat features in both active glasses 14 a and wearable 16.Furthermore, as will be discussed shortly with respect to upcoming FIG.2b , while active wearable 16 is shown as a necklace, wearable 16 isanticipated to adopt multiple forms including a wristband or watch, asash or smart scarf, a hat, etc. Another advantage is that by splittingthe functions of multi-purpose glasses 14 between active glasses 14 andwearable 16, the overall weight of active glasses 14 a is reducedcompared to multi-purposes glasses 14. Other advantages will be apparentto those skilled in the art of communication systems, active shutterglasses and wearables, and will become apparent from a careful readingof the present invention.

Still referring to FIGS. 2a and 2b , what is most desirable andminimally sufficient for active glasses 14 a is that they provide thewell-known functionality of active shutter glasses in that they can beremotely controlled via wireless signals to open and close theirelectronic shutter in synchronicity with the output of video fromcomputing and game app device 15. This requires well known features suchas the active shutters forming the lenses of glasses 14 a, sufficientbattery power as well as communications and control signal processingmeans. The present inventor also prefers that active glasses 14 afurther include audio outputs 14-a1 and 14-a2 so that the wearer canreceive audio including secret audio messages as output for example bycomputing device and game app 15 in combination with the playing ofboard game 10. The other features described for multi-purpose glasses 14do also have significant value and the present inventor anticipates thatactive glasses 14 a come in multiple varieties, starting with the basicactive shutter and audio, and then optionally including camera 14-camsuch that the wearer's experiences can be captured and transmitted as apart of the multi-player game, especially where some of themulti-players are remote from each other. Another useful option would bethe hidden signal LEDs such as 14-led1, 14-led2 and 14-led3, which asexplained in the parent application, provide an excellent non-visiblesignal to help with head motion tracking assuming that the trackingcamera can detect IR energy. Another useful option is the haptic orkinesthetic device included in 14-dc that provides vibration feed-backto the wearer. Also, visible signal LEDs such as one or more 14-led-xcan be included so that a variant of active glasses 14 a could be causedto light-up, for example when the wearer has achieved some significantpoint in the board game where the computer and game app 15 then transmita signal to activate LEDs 14-led-x. And finally, as will be wellunderstood by a careful reading of both the parent application and thepresent invention, if multi-purpose glasses 14 include active shutterswith a remote communication link, then multi-purpose glasses 14 couldalso be used with system 1 in place of active glasses 14 a, either withor without also using interactive wearable 16. Hence, the presentinventor anticipates that some board game players could only be wearingmulti-purpose glasses 14 with active shutter lenses, while other boardgame players are wearing active shutter glasses 14 a along withinteractive wearable 16, where interactive wearable 16 is adopted to beavailable in any of multiple forms including a wristband or watch, asash or smart scarf, a hat, etc. And finally, it is noted that sinceactive glasses 14 a preferably include Bluetooth communications, it ispossible that computing device and game app 15 communicate directly withactive glasses 14 a since Bluetooth is a typical feature built into mostcomputing devices in today's marketplace.

Referring to FIG. 2b , there is also shown interactive wearable 16 inthe form of a necklace, where as previously mentioned what is mostimportant about wearable 16 is not its form but rather that it is wornby a person and is not active glasses 14 a. It is also desirable thatwearable 16 have the capability to communicate with active glasses 14 aas will be discussed shortly in more detail. However, as will beappreciated by a careful reading of the present invention it is notmandatory that wearable 16 be able to communicate with active glasses 14a as wearable 16 has useful functions within system 1 regardless ofactives glasses 14 a. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, the personor player could be using multi-purpose glasses 14 with active shutterswhich have their own direct communications with computing device andgame app 15. As prior mentioned, any form of wearable 16 is consideredto fall within the scope and teachings of the present invention,including a wristband or watch, a sash or smart scarf, a hat, etc. Forexample, as is well-known the Boys and Girls Scouts of America havesashes that are draped over their shoulders upon which they sew theirmerit badges to indicate they have successfully accomplished a task. Thepresent invention anticipates that the board game 1 can be adopted intothe scouting programs in which case the entity for maintaining anddistributing content and information via eco-systems 40 and/or 30 is thenational organization associated with scouting. The sash as a wearablewould then include minimal features, the same as depicted for wearablenecklace 16, especially including power source 16-p and a computing andcommunications element 16-c. Element 16-c is like detector-communicator14-dc shown in glasses 14 and described in detail in the parentapplication. Element 16-c is capable of all the same functions ofdetector-communicator 14-dc except those that are specific to glasses14, for example detecting through hinges 14-h whether 14-temples arecurrently open, and therefore wearable, or closed and therefore notwearable, or detecting through pads 14-p that 14-frame is resting onplayer's nose or not resting on nose. However, while element 16-c islike detector-communicator 14-dc, one of the main benefits of separatingthe functionality of multi-purposes glasses 14 as described in theparent application to be divided between a wearable 16 and activeglasses 14 a is that both wearable 16 and active glasses 14 a wouldindividually be simpler devices than multi-purpose glasses 14.

Still referring to FIG. 2b , a preferred minimum function of wearable 16is to provide a wireless communications path with computing device andgame app 15, where the communication path is preferred to be a wi-ficonnection but can be of any appropriate form as will be well understoodby those skilled in the art of distributed computing and communicationsystems. Again, wearable 16 optionally communicates with active glasses14 a, for example using Bluetooth, such that computing device and gameapp 15 can effectively control at least the active shutter of glasses 14a by sending first communication signals to wearable 16 which are thenconverted to second communication signals by wearable 16 and transmittedto glasses 14 a. As will be obvious to those skilled in the art, ifwearable 16 communicates with device 15 through a wi-fi connection, ithas a much-increased distance for communication verses the limitedBluetooth range that is preferred for the wearable 16 communicating withglasses 14 a. As prior stated, it is not mandatory that wearable 16communicate with glasses 14 a, for example mobile device and game app 17could fulfil this similar communication and control role. Specifically,cell phones (or mobile devices in general) useable as 17 generallyinclude both wi-fi and Bluetooth communication capability, and as suchcomputing device and game app 15 could control active glasses 14 a bysending the first signals first to mobile device and game app 17. Sincemobile device 17 includes a game app that provides some, all ordifferent functions then the game app loaded onto computing device 15,it is also possible that mobile device and game app 17 issue secondcontrol signals to glasses 14 a without having received first signalsfrom computing device 15. Again, what is most important is that a playerhave some personal device, such as a wearable 16 or a carriable 17 thatcan communicate with any one of, or any combination of: computing deviceand game app 15, global eco-system 40, local eco-system 30, ormirror-display 20 (see FIG. 3.)

Still referring to FIG. 2b , another preferred minimum function ofwearable 16 is to provide an electronically controlled display elementsuch as inactive beads 16 b, where beads for example comprise one ormore LEDs. What is most important about interactive beads 16 b is thatthey are controllably activated by computing device and game app 15, forexample to indicate an exciting moment in board game 10. Preferably,beads 16 b have multiple colors and may also be individually rather thanjust collectively controlled. As the careful reader will see, manyoptions are possible. The present inventor further anticipates thatbeads 16 b include an outer transparent, semi-transparent or translucentshell encasing the lighting element such as an LED, where the shell mayalso include markings such as letters, runes, hieroglyphs, or symbolsassociated with the entity providing content and information, the boardgame 10 or the board game overlay 11, such that device 15 mayindividually turn on and off given beads, each with unique markings,either simultaneously or in a sequence, where the interpretation andunderstanding of which becomes a part of the overall game. The presentinventor also anticipates using beads 16 b to encode some form of acalendar or preferably a countdown timer. For example, if the wearable16 belongs to the child in a family that is booked for an upcomingvacation to a theme park, when the family and child receives theirwearables 16, the time in months, weeks and days can be counted downuntil they depart for their trip. This function could be performed onthe wearable separate from the wearable 16's use during real-time gameboard 10 play. Furthermore, the present inventor anticipates thatwearable 16 include some form of sensor or button whose actuation isdetectable by computing and communications element 16-c, such that forinstance when the wearer of wearable 16 engages the sensor or button,wearable 16 either alone or in communication with any of devices 15 or17 or eco-systems 40 or 30 then engages one or more interactive beads 16b to provide coded information, e.g. how many days are left before thevacation starts.

Still referring to FIG. 2b , an optional function of wearable 16 is toprovide tracking of, and communications with, the individual wearer withrespect to a guardian and/or the entity (e.g. a theme park.) As will bewell understood by those familiar with a category of commerciallyavailable products referred to as “child tracking devices,” there areseveral technologies and many implementations available that are allsufficient for inclusion in wearable 16. The several technologiesinclude: GPS/A-GPS, Wi-Fi Google Touch Triangulation, Cell-ID, all ofwhich for example can interface with Google Mapping. Several of thesedevices also include “S.O.S signals,” such that the wearer can signalfor help. What is most important with respect to the present invention 1is that wearable 16 can be provided with the additional child-trackingtechnology incorporated into many other wearables. In this way, unlikeall other wearables commercially available, wearable 16 with includedtracking can serve at least 3 major and useful functions,specifically: 1) interacting with system 1 and any of its components asdescribed in both the parent application and the presentcontinuation-in-part; 2) acting as a group-member tracking device when agroup (such as a family of school class) is for example together at theentity, such as a theme park, where the guardian is using the mobiledevice with game app 17 to be alerted, notified, directed regarding thelocation of the wearable 16, including any or all of the functionscurrently available in child tracking devices or similar, and 3) actingas a guest tracking device for either the global eco-system 40 or thelocal eco-system 30 associated with the entity, where, as priordiscussed in the parent application, this guest tracking capability hasmany and significant uses beyond security and guest safety especiallythe use in a parkwide gaming system or in queue management andlogistics.

Still referring to FIG. 2b , an optional function of wearable 16 isdepicted as two-way radio 16 r that allows the wearer to verballycommunicate with other group members or the guardian. A commerciallyavailable technology for implementing optional two-way radio 16 r isknown as “Radio over IP” (RoIP) that is similar to the internet-basedtelephone, or “Voice of IP” (VoIP.) RoIP is implemented by transmittingand receiving radio signals over a WLAN (Wireless Local Access Network.)As will be well understood by those familiar with WLAN radio, instead ofcommunicating with another radio directly, each two-way radio 16 rcommunicates with other radios through an existing wireless computernetwork, and in that sense, is technically more of a network device thana traditional radio. As will also be appreciated by those familiar withentities such as Theme Parks, it is common that the entity provides awireless signal throughout the entire controlled area of the entity. Assuch, any visitor to the entity, such as a Theme Park, can then verballycommunicate with other group members using their wearable 16 withwearable radio 16 a. Radio 16 a would connect to the entities WiFisimilar to a cell phone such as 17. What is most important to understandis that wearable 16 is optionally capable of implementing any of theavailable technologies for two-way communications, such that groupmembers may audibly communicate with each other. The present inventorprefers using RoIP since it extends to the boundaries of the WiFi signalprovided by the entity and is not limited to normal antenna rangeissues. The present inventor anticipates that the same technology isthen usable in the home environment, where for instance the parents ofchildren can verbally communicate with their children who are eitherplaying board game 10 or simply wearing wearable 16 within the range ofthe home environments WiFi signal. It is anticipated that the parentmight be using their own wearable 16, or instead are using their mobiledevice such as cell phone with game app 17, where the game app providesthe additional two-way communication processing. Finally, the presentinventor anticipates that wearable 16 includes a microphone for pickingup the wearer's voice, and optionally a speaker for outputting theincoming voice. An alternate implementation anticipated by the presentinvention is that wearable 16 communicates two-way radio signals toglasses 14 a if determined to be connected to the network, such that atleast the audio output available on glasses 14 a could be used foroutputting the incoming voice.

Still referring to FIG. 2b , wearable 16 preferably includes some formof collectible beads 16 a, where the form is less important than thepurpose and intent, which it to attach and display rewards andachievements icons associated with the board game 10 specifically, orwith the entity, such as a theme park, museum, national club like theBoys and Girl Scouts, a school, etc. For example, collectible beads 16 acould be removable/upgradable and include different symbols, themecharacter depictions, colors, or otherwise markings indicative of thestatus, level, achievements, etc. of a wearer. Once anticipated exampleis that of a Theme Park, where a family receives the board game system 1prior to coming to the park and engages on several sequential boardgames 10 as represented by new overlays/levels, where during the playingof each game individual players are accumulating points and rewards thatautomatically are exchanged for collectible beards 16 a (or similar),where the system 1 understands to automatically fulfill and distributebeads 16 a to the family or has the reward beads 16 a available for pickup when the family arrives for their vacation. Accumulated rewards couldalso be used by the individual person to select their own collectiblebeads 16 a. In any case, like the Boys and Girls Scouts sash, using anyform of a wearable 16 such collectibles serve a time-tested purpose ofallowing the individual to show their achievements.

Still referring to FIG. 2b , as prior mentioned and especially as taughtwithin the related parent application regarding multi-purpose glasses14, any of the components and functions not specifically related to theglasses form (such as frames, temples, lenses, etc.) may optionally oralternatively be incorporated into wearable 16 in any of its forms,including a necklace, wristband or watch, a sash or smart scarf, a hat,etc. For example, a useful function for wearable 16 is to provide aunique ID to system 1 via computing device and game app 15 and/or mobiledevice and game app 17. The present inventor anticipates that wearable16 includes a haptic or kinesthetic device for the purposes of causingvibration sensations at key moments in board game 10, or perhaps whenone group member is placing a radio call to another member. The wearablecould also have a small display for displaying messages, symbols and anyother information. As will be understood by those skilled in the art ofdisplays, any technology such as an LCD, AMOLED, PMOLED, e-Ink orsimilar can be used to implement the anticipated display.

Referring next to FIG. 3, there is shown a combination pictorialrepresentation and block diagram of alternate game board 9 that usesalternate collectible game pieces 7 as well as collectible game cards 13and electronic turn device 6. Also shown is mirror-display 20 as firsttaught in the parent application from the present inventor. Regardingalternative game board 9, the present inventor anticipates that a moretraditional style game board without any game piece tracking electronic10 b and attendant data and power cable 10 c, or game overlay 11, maystill be useful and enjoyable with the remaining components or alternatecomponents of physical-virtual game board and content delivery system 1.Like a traditional game board, players move game pieces 7 about theboard 9. Unlike game board 10 that can automatically sense the locationand unique identity of each game piece 8, content is recalled by system1 using mirror-display 20, where mirror-display 20 was the main subjectand teaching of the parent application and will not be discussed hereinexcept in summary. Mirror-display 20, like computing device and game app15 includes some form of a camera 24 that can be used to capture imagesand perform object recognition. Player 24 may present game piece 7 tothe view of camera 24 for recognition in any of several possible ways,all of which will be well understood to those skilled in the art ofimage processing and object recognition and tracking. First, camera 24may be capable of emitting IR light and then capturing the reflected IRlight, all as described in the parent application. In this case, thepresent inventor anticipates that, for example, a unique IR code isaffixed or marked onto the bottom of every game piece 7 and that ideallythis marking is retro-reflective. When a player holds up the bottom oftheir game piece 7, the camera 24 that preferably is always on andprocessing images, recognizes the unique IR code that is theninterpreted as the unique identity of the piece 7 and associated withthe player. At this point, mirror-display 20 is capable of recallingcontent and information from connected eco-systems 40 and/or 30 as priordescribed for computing device and game app 15. Although the players inthe present figure are intentionally depicted as not wearing glasses 14a or wearable 16 because system 1 has valuable and novel functionswithout these additional components, it is possible that alternate gameboard 9 can be played with glasses 14 a for receiving secret messagesfrom mirror-display 20. If the player is wearing wearable 16, then allof the same functions available to game board 10 are likewise availableto game board 9, for instance the interactive beads 16 b may be lit upby device 15 at any time determined by the game designer.

Still referring to FIG. 3, there are several ways for mirror-display todetermine the unique location of game piece 7 on board 9, at leastincluding: 1) registering all players and game pieces through a userinterface on the mirror-display 20 prior to the start of the game,assuming that all players start at the beginning of the board game pathof unique locations, using either electronic turn device 6 (to bedescribed shortly) or a user interface on display 20 to choose,indicate, request, decide, etc. the amount of locations for a player toadvance their piece 7, and then assuming or optionally confirming thelocation number, name, symbol or unique identifier that the player hasplaced their piece 7 upon, 2) placing the mirror-display 20 andtherefore tracking camera 24 in such a position in relationship to gameboard 9 that camera 24 can accurately detect using image processingagainst a pre-known layout of game board 9 as well as pre-known imagesof pieces 7, where each game piece 7 is currently located, or 3) using averbal or touch screen input on display-mirror 20 to allow the player toindicate the new location of their piece 7. The present inventor prefersthe option (1) above that relies upon a novel electronic turn device 6,where turn device 6 minimally includes: 1) power, 2) wirelesscommunication with mirror-display 20 that is preferably accomplished byWiFi or Bluetooth, 3) a computing element for executing turndetermination algorithms and for operating a display, and 4) a displayfor providing visual instructions relating to the player's turn andtherefore movements of piece 7. Electronic turn device 6 optionallyincludes any of LEDs, haptic feedback or audio output for providingadditional forms of communication for example when indicating a specialgame event, game location or that a player has won the game. What ismost important to see is that like game board 10, game board 9 can alsoultimately know each the movements of each player's game piece 7 upongame board 9 and therefore like computing device and game app 15,mirror-display 20 can recall content and information according to theintent of the game designer, track and report the progress of the gameto eco-system 40 and/or 30, and otherwise perform all of the same usefulfunctions as described in relation to FIG. 1 and game board 10. Thisincludes the use of game cards 13 in a similar fashion as previouslydescribed herein.

Referring still to FIG. 3, there is shown article 12, such as a wizard'swand, being moved about in front of mirror-display 20, for which theparent application has significant teachings. One of the novel functionstaught in the parent application regarding tracking of at least the wandtip, was the display of wand tip paths upon the mirror-display 20.Mirror-display 20 was also then capable of interpreting these paths asspells, or commands. Regarding the present teachings, it is anticipatedthat a player using an article 12 such as a wand will use indications,gestures, spells, or similar for several purposes with respect to aparticular board game 9, (or even board game 10 where mirror-display 20is being used with or in place of computing device and game app 15.)These several purposes include, but are not limited to: 1) a userinterface for a player to choose, indicate, request, decide, etc. theamount of locations for a player to advance their piece 7, inreplacement of or conjunction with electronic turn device 6, 2) a userinterface for answering challenges, performing actions, or otherwiseresponding to the game instructions as intended by the game designer, 3)requesting additional content or information from eco-system 40 and/or30, and 4) engaging in duals or competitions with other players playingthe same game at some other location remote from the player. Especiallyfor the last purpose of distributed multi-player game play and activity,similar to the cameras anticipated for computing device and game app 15,mobile device and game app 17 and active glasses 14 a, the camera 24 ondisplay-mirror 20 may also be used to provide real-time video (as wellas audio using the embedded microphone as described in the parentapplication) of the various players as they engage in a distributedgame.

And finally, with respect to FIGS. 1, 2 a, 2 b and 3, many combinationsof the preferred, alternative and optional components described herein,as well as adaptations that will be obvious based upon a careful readingof the present invention and parent application and an understanding ofgaming systems, are possible without departing from the teachings andscope of the present invention. For instance, game board 10 can be usedwith mirror-display 20, where display 20 is further adapted to allow theconnection of data and power cable 10 c, or game board 10 is furtheradapted to support wireless communication such as Bluetooth. In thiscapacity, mirror-display 20 may fully replace the functions of computingdevice and game app 15, for example by including the same game app orsimilar, or may combine with the use of device 15, for example wheredisplay-mirror 20 is used for the article 12 user interface. Similarly,computing device and game app 15 may be used with game board 9,communicating with electronic turn device 6 or providing an equivalentuser interface via the game app, or using the game app on one or moremobile devices with game app 17. Therefore, it is to be understood thatthe many and various components described herein should be construed asexemplifications and not limitations of the present invention. What ismost important is that an entity's eco-systems 40 and/or 30 areconnected to the board game 9 or 10 experience and capable of bothproviding content and information and receiving the on-going status ofthe board game and player achievements. It is also important to see thatthis configuration combines the traditional physical board games withnewer virtual computer games. It is further important to see how system1 supports a means for entities to further engage and entertain theircustomers before, during and after visits.

Referring next to FIG. 4a , there is shown an alternate embodimentmirror-display 20 a comprising a lower cost object tracking system 24 athat is only capable of capturing visible light images, and a lower costpassive transflective layer, all as first taught in the parentapplication from the present inventor. The purpose of this lower costalternate embodiment 20 a included addressing the home market, a marketthat coincides with board game 10 and alternate board game 9 of thepresent system 1. The prior parent application described the apparatus,operation and advantages of alternate mirror-display 20 a in detail,which will not be repeated herein. What is most important to understandwith respect to the present invention is that alternate mirror-display20 a is capable of tracking an article 12, such as a wizard's wand,using a visible light only camera 24 a, rather than camera 24 that wastaught as relying upon emitted and received IR tracking energy forreflecting off and detecting points on article 12 such as the tip of awizard's wand. (Note that the parent application also taught that camera24 could additionally capture visible light images, where these imageshave many uses including the sharing of player video as discussed inrelation to prior FIG. 3 in relation to camera 24 on mirror-display 20.)The parent application teaches adhering visible markers 13-a, 13-b and13-c to article 12 providing trackable points for system 24 a, all aswill be well understood by those familiar with object tracking and froma careful reading of the parent application. The present teachingsincorporate mirror-display 20 and alternate mirror-display 20 a as acomponent of system 1. Furthermore, as will also be well understood bythose skilled with vision systems and object tracking, the same article12 with one or more attached visible markers 13-a, 13-b and 13-c mayalso be tracked by object tracking algorithms running on computingdevice and gam app 15, thus this main concept of marking the article 12for either 2DoF or 6DoF tracking (see parent application) is useful withdevice 15 and therefore system 1, without requiring the componentmirror-display 20 or 20 a.

Referring next to FIG. 4b , there is shown alternate embodimentmirror-display 20 b comprising a mobile device such as a cell phonerunning a special app for causing the cell phone to mimic alternatemirror-display 20, all as first taught in the parent application fromthe present inventor. The purpose of this alternate embodiment ofmirror-display 20 as a cell phone and app 20 b, is to provide theindividual with a portable and personal device for practicing article 12(e.g. wizard's wand) movements (e.g. spells), and for then also usingcell phone and game app 20 b as an portal, or interface into theinformation and content managed by eco-systems 40 and/or 30. The priorparent application described the apparatus, operation and advantages ofalternate mirror-display 20 b in detail, which will not be repeatedherein. What is most important to understand with respect to the presentinvention is that alternate mirror-display 20 a is capable offunctioning as mobile device and game app 17 as described in relation toFIG. 1, therefore providing all of the prior described functions andbenefits, while now also allowing for object tracking using visiblelight in either 2DoF or 6DoF of an article 12, such as a wizard's wand.As prior discussed in relation to FIG. 3, such an upgraded game app thatcan recognize and respond to article 12 movements, gestures,indications, etc. contributes to the enjoyable gaming possibilities forthe players of game board 9 or 10 of system 1.

Referring next to FIG. 4c , there is shown an alternate embodimentmirror-display 20 c, that is further adapted from alternate 20 b, where20 c is capable of tracking article 12 using IR energies. Alternatemirror-display 20 c includes case 21 c with opening 24 c-o that exposescell phone camera 24 c-c, where mount 24 c-m is movable within opening24 c-o so as to cause visible light filter 24 c-visf and IR LEDs 24c-ire to optionally cover and surround camera 24 c respectively, all asfirst taught in the parent application from the present inventor. Whatis most important to understand with respect to the present invention isthat alternate mirror-display 20 c is capable of functioning as mobiledevice and game app 17 as described in relation to FIG. 1, thereforeproviding all of the prior described functions and benefits, while nowalso allowing for object tracking using IR energy in either 2DoF or 6DoFof an article 12 such as an official Harry Potter Wand. As priordiscussed in relation to FIG. 3, such an upgraded game app that canrecognize and respond to article 12 movements, gestures, indications,etc. contributes to the enjoyable gaming possibilities for the playersof game board 9 or 10 of system 1.

Referring next to FIG. 5, there is shown a top view conceptual diagramof an alternative game overlay 11 a with electronically switchablegraphics. Like game overlay 11, alternate overlay 11 a includes printedgraphics and designs on surface layer 11 a-L4 indicative of the gameboard layout, including multiple marked spaces or locations for denotingthe movements of game pieces. Where game overlay 11 can be printed as asingle sheet of paper, alternative game overlay 11 a is a multi-layercomposition that is also anticipated to be flexible similar to paper andrelatively low cost to produce. What is especially different and usefulabout alternate game overlay 11 a is that overlay 11 a has the abilityto controllably augment the visual presentation of the printed surfacegraphics and designs on surface layer 11 a-L4 so as to alter the visualperception of the game board layout. Some anticipated alterations to thevisible printed surface game board design is to show a secret word, oropen a secret door or secret path of additional marked piece locations.Other alterations will be obvious to those skilled in the art ofphysical game boards and game concepts. For example, in one use, as theplayers move about the game board 10, receiving points, performing taskssuch as answering questions or doing assignments (see FIG. 7) it ispossible for the game designer to use at least any of the ongoing gamedatabase information (that includes at least the current if not also thehistory of each game piece 8 and therefore player's movements) such thattriggered by a game piece 8 movement or any other trigger preferablybased at least in part upon any of game database information, the gameboard electronics 10 b causes an electric field that then causes thegame overlay electro-chromic surface to change color, thus revealing andor removing surface indications such as a marked location or path forgame piece 8 movement.

Still referring to FIG. 5, in response to a particular player's roll,spin, answer, gesture, etc., the computing device and game app 15 maysend electronic signals through data and power cable 10 c (or itswireless equivalent) where these signals and power are directed fromgame base 10 a and electronics 10 b to contacts on conductive layer 11a-L2. As will be well understood by those skilled in the art ofelectronics and especially printed electronics as well as short rangepower and signal transfer including inductive coupling or capacitivecoupling, there are multiple possibilities for transferring power andcontrol signals to conductive layer 11 a-L2, including short rangeremote power and signal transfer or exposing the contacts of conductivelayer 11 a-L2 through base and protective layer 11 a-L1 so as to form aphysical contact and signal transfer link with game electronics 10 b.What is most important to understand is that by transferring power andcontrol signals to conductive layer 11 a-L2, it is possible to uniquelyaddress (and in so doing heat up) one or more heat sinks arranged forexample in an addressable matrix of uniformly spaced dots. Multiplearrangements of the thermochromic comprising ink layer 11 a-L3 arepossible, where each heat sink in layer 11 a-L2 is shaped and alignedunderneath a specific shape and color of thermochromic ink. Suchelectronically switchable inks are well known in the marketplace and forinstance can be purchased from companies such as LCRHallcrest that alsoproduces conductive circuits with thermographic display similar toalternate game overlay 11 a. Thermochromic inks are well known to changecolor with applied heat and then to return to an original state when theheat source is removed.

Still referring to FIG. 5, forming an alternative game overlay usingthermographic display technology is preferred because of its cost andperformance benefits. However, other technologies are availableincluding electroluminescent inks that respond to electric current byemitting light and changing opacity. As is well known in the art,electroluminescent inks can be silk-screened onto plastic sheets andthen electronically altered by the application of an electric field. Onepreferred source for what is known as electrochromic displays, that canbe printed as a flexible surface on plastic or paper is a Europeancompany called “ynvisible.” They refer to their products as “printedelectrochromics” that can be printed onto paper or plastics (which areboth a preferably material for game overlay 11.) They are flexible,ultra-low weight and require very little power. The present inventornotes that these same printed electronics can also include sensors suchas a touch sensor or heat sensor. The present inventor furtheranticipates including such sensors into the game overlay 11 as a meansof accepting input from the players, for example to answer questions orcausing a virtual spinner or dice to be spun or thrown on the game app15 UI by pushing a location on the game overlay surface.

Referring next to FIG. 6, there is shown inventor Bulsink's PRIOR ARTFIG. 2 and FIG. 3 from U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,158 that is incorporated byreference into the present application. Bulsink teaches a game boarddivided into discrete squares (such as element 3 in PRIOR ART FIG. 2)and (game) pieces (such as 16 in PRIOR ART FIG. 2) of differing typesfor placing on the squares. Included within Bulsink's game pieces is aresonant coil (element 15 in PRIOR ART FIG. 2) where the resonant coilis uniquely detectable by conducting a scanning process using a layer ofreceive coils (element 4 of PRIOR ART FIG. 3) in sequence with a layerof transmit coils (element 5 of PRIOR ART FIG. 3) “When a playing pieceis situated above both the selected transmit coil and the selectedreceive coil a resonance signal is generated.” Electronic means are alsoprovided then correlate the generated resonance signal with a physicallocation (such as 3 in PRIOR ART FIG. 2) and a game piece “type,” wherefor the purposes of the present invention the game piece type is anidentification code (where 2 or more game base's 8 b have the same code)or unique identification code (where one 1 game base 8 b has the codefor any given game play.)

The present invention has many advantages over the PRIOR ART of U.S.Pat. No. 6,168,158 especially including that the “logical” layout ofmarked locations on the game overlay 11 surface is separate from the“physical” layout of the physical locations as embedded in the gameboard electronics 10 b. By allowing for any number of different gameoverlay 11 surfaces that are usable on a single game board electronics10 b, the present invention teaches a never-ending game surface that islow cost to provide to the consumer. By connecting the game board 10 toa computing device 15 running a gaming app and preferably connected toan entity's eco-system such as 40 or 30, it is then possible tointeractively provide content and information from the entity to thegame players in real-time for additional enjoyment based at least inpart upon the automatically detected on-going locations of game pieces8. Many other advantages are also described herein and will be apparentfrom a careful reading of the specification and claims.

Referring next to FIG. 7, there is shown an alternative game board 10-2and game board overlay 11-2 that employs NFC (near field communications)to implement both physical locations, such as 10-2 c 1, 10-2 c 2 and10-2 cn as individual addressable NFC readers, and game piece bases 8b-2 as NFC tags. Game board 10-2 preferably comprises a computingelement such as micro-controller 10-2 a to control all internalelectronic parts and to communicate with the game app running on theshared computing device 15, where communication means preferably includeeither or both of a wire means such as USB interface 10-2 d 1 or awireless interface such as Bluetooth interface 10-2 d 2. Computingelement 10-2 a preferably uses a multiplexer 10-2 b to interface withthe multiplicity of NFC readers such as 10-2 c 1, 10-2 c 2 and 10-2 cn,where preferably the multiplicity of NFC readers forms a regular matrixof physical locations at the surface of the game board 10-2 thatinterfaces with the game board overlay 11-2. As is well known in theart, each NFC reader is capable of remote coupling and readinginformation from an NFC tag at short ranges typically <10 cm. It is thenpreferred that each game piece base 8 b-2 comprise at least one NFC tagsuch that as the piece base 8 b-2 in placed over and upon a markedlogical location such as 11-2Ln as demarcated on board overlay 11-2, theNFC tag comes into the proximity of an NFC reader such as 10-2 cn. It isalso preferred that computing element 10-2 a regularly scans the matrixof NFC readers to determine if any NFC tags such as for examplecomprised within game base 8 b-2 are currently detectable in theproximity of any given NFC reader situated over potential logical gameoverlay locations, such as 10-2 c 2 and 10-2 cn.

Still referring to FIG. 7, game board computing element 10-2 apreferably provides a unique game board ID 10-2id as digital informationto game app and computing element 15. It is also preferred that any gameoverlay such as 11-2 further includes an embedded NFC tag comprising agame overlay ID 11-2-id that will align with a pre-known physicallocation such as 10-2 c 1, whereby computing element 10-2 a causes thispre-known physical location NFC reader 10-2 c 1 to read the gameoverlay's unique ID 11-2id prior to the commencement of the game. Usingthe combination of the game board ID 10-2id and the game board overlayID 11-2id, game app 15 retrieves game board layout information 10-2L andgame overlay layout information 11-2L all as prior described. As alsoprior described, game app 15 is then capable of mapping physicallocations such as 10-2 cn to a logical location 11-2Ln such that thespecific game piece base such as 8 b-2 can be designated to be locatedat a specific location on the game overlay 11-2, such as 11-2Ln. As willbe appreciated by those skilled in the art of printed electronics,companies such as Thinfilm are now producing or will soon be producingvery low-cost tags in the expected price range of $0.10 each, andseveral companies such as NXP manufacture NFC controllers in the pricerange of $2.0 each, all of which facilitate producing a low cost gameboard 10-2 with a controlled matrix of NFC readers as well as gameoverlays 11-2 with an embedded NFC tag for unique identification 11-2idand plastic bases 8 b-2 comprising an NFC tag. As will also beappreciated, using NFC technology, it is possible to embed a much largernumber of unique piece base ID's 8 b-2 that using the Bulsink prior artapparatus.

Referring next to FIG. 8, there is shown an alternative game board 10-3and game board overlay 11-3 that employs one or more NFC readers sharedto read two or more antennas, where the individual addressable antennasrepresent the physical locations, such as 10-3 c 1, 10-3 c 2 and 10-3cn, and where game piece bases 8 b-3 are implemented using NFC tags.Game board 10-3 preferably comprises a computing element 103-acomprising a microcontroller to control all internal electronic partsand to communicate with the game app running on the shared computingdevice 15, where communication means preferably include either or bothof a wire means such as USB interface 10-3 d 1 or a wireless interfacesuch as Bluetooth interface 10-3 d 2. The microcontroller of computingelement 10-3 a preferably controls one or more NFC readers, connectingeach NFC reader to one or more antenna such as 10-3 c 1, 10-3 c 2 and10-3 cn using a multiplexer. The multiplicity of antennas forms aregular matrix of physical locations at the surface of the game board10-3 that interfaces with the game board overlay 11-3. As is well knownin the art, a controlled by NFC reader 10-3 a connected to an antenna iscapable of remote coupling and reading information from an NFC tag. Itis preferred that each game piece base 8 b-3 comprise at least one NFCtag such that as the piece base 8 b-3 in placed over and upon a markedlogical location such as 11-3Ln as demarcated on board overlay 11-3, theNFC tag comes into the proximity of an antenna such as 10-3 cn. It isalso preferred that microcontroller-multiplexer and NFC reader 10-3 aregularly scans the matrix of antennas such as 10-3 c 1, 10-3 c 2 and10-3 cn to determine if any NFC tags such as for example comprisedwithin game base 8 b-3 are currently detectable in the proximity of anygiven antenna situated over potential logical game overlay locations,such as 10-3 c 2 and 10-3 cn.

Still referring to FIG. 8, the microcontroller of computing element 10-3a preferably provides a unique game board ID 10-3id as digitalinformation to game app and computing element 15. It is also preferredthat any game overlay such as 11-3 further includes an embedded NFC tagcomprising a game overlay ID 11-3-id that will align with a pre-knownphysical location such as 10-3 c 1, whereby NFC reader 10-3 a causesthis pre-known physical location antenna 10-3 c 1 to read the gameoverlay's unique ID 11-3id prior to the commencement of the game. Usingthe combination of the game board ID 10-3id and the game board overlayID 11-3id, game app 15 retrieves game board layout information 10-3L andgame overlay layout information 11-3L all as prior described. As alsoprior described, game app 15 is then capable of mapping physicallocations such as 10-3 cn to a logical location 11-3Ln such that thespecific game piece base such as 8 b-3 can be designated to be locatedat a specific location on the game overlay 11-3, such as 11-3Ln.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art of NFC and RFIDsystems as well as printed electronics, there are many companies nowproducing very low-cost NFC readers, antennas and tags, all of whichfacilitate producing a low cost game board 10-3 with a controlled matrixof antennas operably connected to one or more NFC readers comprisedwithin computing element 10-3 a as well as low cost game overlays 11-3with an embedded NFC tag for unique identification 11-3id and game bases8 b-3 comprising an NFC tag. As will also be appreciated, using eitherthe preferred short-range NFC technology, or otherwise a similar RFIDreader-antenna technology, it is possible to embed a much larger numberof unique piece base ID's 8 b-3 that using the Bulsink prior artapparatus. While NFC readers are preferred over RFID readers based atleast upon reduced cost, companies such as MindSportInternational arecurrently providing game boards for playing specific games such asScrabble, Chess and Go, where the game board uses multiple RFID readersto poll a multiplicity of RFID antennas to locate game pieces withembedded RFID's placed over a location comprising an antenna. Either ofthe sort-range NFC or longer-range RFID technologies are acceptable foruse in implementations of game board and game piece as described inFIGS. 7 and 8.

As will also be clear, game cards 13 can be embedded with either an NFCor RFID tag as opposed to using a printed bar code such as 13 qr, whereit is preferred to use and NFC tag since most cell phones include andNFC reader and then can also be used to include a game app interface 17,where the player scan the card with the cell phone NFC reader and thenreceives their private message, content, instructions, etc., or thissame information is shown to all players on the shared device 15.

CONCLUSION AND RAMIFICATIONS

Thus the reader will see that the present invention accomplishes theconvergence of multiple forms of recreation including physical boardgames and virtual board games, where continuously updated contentassociated with entities including theme parks, movies, cable shows,books, museums, schools, organizations, etc. my be presented to theplayers in multiple replaceable physical and virtual forms includinggame board overlays, collectible figurine pieces, game cards, as well asevergreen and personalized information and content. The present systemprovides novel means for entities representing national andinternational brands to engage, intrigue and entertain customers usingthe herein described physical and virtual formats that are both low costto efficiently distributed. The present system provides novel means forthese same entities to gather information from their customers andprospective customers relating to their choices and responses indicatedwhile participating in the gaming system 1.

The present invention is further anticipated to be useful in a schoolenvironment, where it is advantageous to combine game playing withlearning. There exist companies in the marketplace such asMysteryScience that already create and market physical and virtualexperiences for teaching science lessons. Systems such as those createdby MysteryScience would benefit by incorporating their lessons into acompanion everchanging board game such as herein described, includingstudents receiving collectible tokens, badges, items, rewards etc.representative of the achieved lessons. The present system also allows ameans for multiple schools to compete on-going, throughout a schoolyear, where again all the main physical and virtual components can beupgraded at low cost with efficient distribution. Schools are expectedto have color printers and many also have 3D printers such that thephysical game pieces such as overlays 11, game cards 13 and game pieceFIG. 8b may all be produced locally as distributed with lesson plans.

The present inventor also anticipates that the National Parks systemwould benefit by making games representative of each of the Nation'sParks, such that players can enjoy playing and interacting with currentpark information and content as they traverse the park layout usingvarious printed overlays 11 that essentially serve as maps. The presentinventor described a use with television or cable shows that featureon-going stories, where the producers of these shows can benefit fromengaging their viewer base with an everchanging board game that followsalong with the upcoming episodes. In this example, players areincentivized to play along in advance and to accumulate points in a MMO(massively multi-player) style game based upon their ability tocorrectly predict the choices their favorite characters will make in thenext show. Rating companies such as Nielsen can benefit from theinformation gathered by system 1 as it relates to players making choicescrafted to reveal preferences and concerns related to products. System 1also provides continuous means for advertisers to promote their productsin novel ways. The present inventor also anticipates that fan-clubs orsocial groups can also form websites for uploading and distributing gameoverlays, game cards, virtual content, game rules, 3D printer files forfigurines etc. which then form an open-game marketplace forexperimenting with new ideas.

The present invention has taught various alternatives for providing agame board that tracks the physical locations of a game piece, includingthe use of the Bulsink's scanning for a resonance signal technique orMindSportsInternational RF scanning for tags technique. There are manydifferences between the present invention and the solutions of Bulsinkand MindSportsInternational as will be apparent from a careful readingof the present invention as compared to the references, with a firstmajor difference being the present invention's solution for providingmultiple logical surfaces such as 11, 11-2 and 11-3 that are digitallymappable by the game app and computing device 15 to the same physicalgame board such as 10, 10-2 and 10-3 respectively. This novel featureallows a single game board such as 10, 10-2 and 10-3 to service anever-ending set of overlays 11, 11-2 and 11-3 respectively, forproviding on-going extensions to a single game, or for providingmultiple games, where the overlays are significantly lower in cost (inthe range of paper) and therefore throwaway and can be printed locallyby the game players. For example, the technologies for building any ofgame boards 10, 10-2 or 10-3 are low cost enough in large quantitiesthat it is possible for an entity such as a theme park, museumconsortium, travel support agency, movie or show producer or provide thegame boards at no cost to players as an enticement to participate. Theentity then establishes a global eco-system 40 for maintaining both thegame structures including rules and game database as well as allcontent. Since the game overlays 11, 11-2 and 11-3 can be made from 100%paper (in which case the overlays preferably use a bar-code 11 qr foridentification rather than either an NFC or RFID tag) it is thenpossible for the entity's global eco-system to transmit the game overlaydesigns for example to a UPS store local to the player, where the UPSstore then prints a game overlay (presumably in a larger format than8.5″×11″ which the player could most likely print for themselves) andthen mails the one or more game overlays to the player, thus providingthe overlays at a low cost as well.

Using this ability to extend a single game into an unlimited number ofnew “instances” i.e. surfaces 11, 11-2 or 11-3, it is possible to playentirely new types of physical-virtual board games, for example a worldtravel game. In this game, using a game board such as 10, 10-2 or 10-3,a person planning a trip to Europe from America can receive multipleoverlays of the major cities, museums, cruise ships, hotels, etc. thatthey are anticipating visiting or staying at. As they play the game,they are connected to a remote server (therefore being a globaleco-system 40) for a travel support entity that provides up-to-datetravel information as the players move from logical to logical locationon the provided game overlays such as 11, 11-2 and 11-3, respectively.This type of game allows providers of content such as travel books tomerge their content in with a game. Other establishments such asrestaurants, museums, theaters, specialty shops, etc. can contract withthe travel support entity to purchase a location on a virtual game boardand provide content including promotional rewards, incentives,discounts, etc. It is even possible that the travel entity provides thegame in combination with other brands, where for example the game is a“Dan Brown” or “Indiana Jones” style hunt for clues across the globe. Asthose familiar with travel information, booking and planning will see,this solution has significant benefits as it provides an entirely newway of engaging with prospects and customers.

In another example, a casino is the entity and maintains a localeco-system 30 on-site. The casino then provides a game board to eachhotel room and guests can visit the concierge to pick up overlays forthe hotel itself (i.e. shops, restaurants, game machines and tablelocations, etc.) as well as the surrounding area (i.e. “things to do andsee” during your visit.) The casino can even provide overlays designedto teach game play for any of the games they provide at their casino orto create new games that allow multiple players throughout the casino tocompete each using their own game board in their own location, where theon-going results can be made available electronically in any number ofmeans.

In another example, a theme park such as Universal Studios or DisneyWorld provides free game boards to any family signing up for a vacationat least six months in advance. The theme park then establishes a globaleco-system 40 and provides overlays that teach the families the parklayouts, provide games based upon that entities core themes (such asHarry Potter or Star Wars, respectively) and in general begin to moredeeply engage their customers. The more the families play the game, thehigher and higher levels they reach meaning new game overlays, whereinthey can receive more and more benefits. These same basic strategies anduses can be extended to education where a single game board is reusablewith an unlimited number of new overlays for different curriculum andlessons from a global 40 or local entity 30 along with matching contentand information. Students can compete in games across classrooms,schools, school districts and even states. Parent can purchase gameboards at home and play with their children to learn the materials andto provide help, where a parent's game piece might then trigger theprovision by the system of different content and information as opposedto a student's game piece.

While the present system refers to global 40 and local 30 eco-systemsand teaches their many features and advantages in the parent applicationof which the present invention is a continuation-in-part, it will beclear that multiple solutions are possible for providing shared gamingand content databases capable of supporting the present invention thatdo not include any one or more of the other features of the eco-systems30 and 40 as discussed in the parent application. What is most importantto see is that a remote database services multiple on-going games acrossmultiple never-ending layers being used by a multiplicity of players. Aswill also be clear to those familiar with sales and marketing, thepresent system offers entities novel ways for conducting marketresearch, especially including providing slightly different “A/B”content, information, incentives, etc., or slighting different “A/B”game overlays to different players or types of players, where the gameplay of these different players is then analyzed to provide valuablebrand insights. It is also possible to ask questions with slightingdifferent wording and then to judge this impact on the game play orplayer's game choices. Those familiar with market research conducted viaweb-sites such as Amazon or Google, will already be familiar with thistype of technique that provides slightly different web-pages(functioning like a game overlay layout) or slightly different contentto then judge the effect on the web-site visitors.

While only certain features of the invention have been illustrated anddescribed herein, many modifications and changes will occur to thoseskilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appendedclaims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fallwithin the true spirit of the invention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A physical-virtual gaming system,comprising: one or more game pieces each comprising an electronicallydeterminable identifier; one or more game overlays each comprising twoor more determinable logical locations upon which a game piece can beplaced in accordance with an on-going game, where each game overlaycomprises a determinable identification code; one or more game boardbases upon which one or more game board overlays are overlaid, whereeach board base comprises two or more electronically determinablephysical locations over which a game piece can be placed in accordancewith an on-going game, where each base comprises a determinableidentification code; game electronic means for electronicallydetermining that a given game piece is currently placed substantiallyover a specific physical location, where game electronic meanscommunicates with a game app; one or more mapping datasets of pre-knownmapping information comprising information for relating a determinedphysical location of a game board base with a logical location of anoverlaid game overlay, where each mapping dataset is associated with aunique combination of a determined game overlay identification code anda determined game board base identification code, and a game app fordetermining the on-going logical locations substantially occupied by anyone or more game pieces being moved in accordance with an on-going game,where the game app is adapted to a) electronically or otherwisedetermine the unique identification code of any one or more gameoverlays being used in the on-going game and b) electronically orotherwise determine the unique identification code of any one or moregame board bases being used in the on-going game, where the game app isadapted to retrieve, receive or otherwise access an associated mappingdataset based at least in part upon the combination of a determinedoverlay identification code and a determined base identification code,where the game app receives physical location datum as determined by thegame electronic means, where the physical location datum at leastincludes c) a specific physical location substantially over which agiven game piece has been determined to be currently located, where thegame app determines the logical location over which the given game pieceis substantially located using at least in part the associated mappingdataset and at least in part the physical location datum, and where thegame app determines the identity of a unique game player for associationwith the game piece identifier such that the game app tracks the currentlogical location of the unique game player.
 2. The system of claim 1where the game app determines a game response based at least in partupon the determined current logical location of a unique game player. 3.The system of claim 1 wherein: the mapping dataset comprises mappingdatum related to at least one physical location having a determinableidentification code, where the mapping datum comprises any one of, orany combination of: a) information or no information indicating that nological location is associated with the at least one physical location;b) information indicating that a logical location is associated with theat least one physical location, where the information includesidentification information relating to the logical location, or c)distinct geometric data associated with the at least one physicallocation and distinct geometric data associated with at least onelogical location, where the physical location geometric data iscomparable with the logical location geometric data for uniquelyselecting zero or one logical location as being associated with the atleast one physical location.
 4. The system of claim 3 wherein: thedistinct geometric data comprises any one of, or any combination of: 1)a coordinate indicative of the substantial center of a physical orlogical location with respect to a coordinate system, or 2) amathematical formulation substantially indicative of the area occupiedby a physical or logical location with respect to a coordinate system.5. The system of claim 1 wherein a first game base has the same or adifferent physical size than a second game base, and wherein a firstgame base has the same or a different variation of physical locationsthan a second game base.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein the game appis further adapted to update a game state of the ongoing game in a gamedatabase, where the game database is maintained on either a firstelectronic means that is executing the game app or on a secondelectronic means that is not executing the game app, and where the gamestate comprises any one of or any combination of: an association betweena unique game player and a game piece identifier; the current or anyprior physical location of a game piece; the current or any priorlogical location of a game piece, and any other game information orstatus including accumulated game play, awarded points, achievements andaccumulated scores, where accumulated game play includes informationprovided by players in response to game clues, questions, messages andother communications.
 7. The system of claim 6 further comprising:electronic means for any one of or any combination of retrieving,receiving, determining, outputting or communicating information orcontent based at least in part upon any one of or any combination ofgame state datum, where the electronic means is any one of or anycombination of a first electronic device that is executing the game appor a second electronic device that is not executing the game app, andwhere a first electronic device includes any of a smartphone, a tablet,a computer or a mirror-display and where a second electronic deviceincludes any of electronically controllable wearables including activeglasses, a necklace, wristband or watch, a sash or smart scarf, or ahat.
 8. The system of claim 7 wherein the information or content isoutput to a unique game player as a secret message.
 9. The system ofclaim 6 comprising multiple game apps, where each game app performs anyone of or any combination of game app functions including communicatingwith a game base, communicating with other game apps, maintaining a gamestate or providing information or content based at least in part uponany one of or any combination of information received from another gameapp, information received from a game base or datum comprising the gamestate.
 10. The system of claim 1 wherein a game board overlay isoverlaid with a determinable specific orientation upon a game base,wherein the game app is further adapted to determine the logicallocation over which the given game piece is substantially located usingat least in part the determined specific orientation, and wherein thespecific orientation is determined at least in part by any one of or anycombination of: providing a game overlay with a construction that fitsinto the base in a single orientation; providing any one of or anycombination of a game overlay with markings indicative of properorientation for overlaying onto a base or a base with markingsindicative of proper orientation for receiving a game overlay; directinga player to place a game piece over a specific logical locationwhereupon a specific physical location is determined for the game piecesuch that the orientation is determined based at least in part upon thedetermined specific physical location, or further adapting the overlayto comprise electronically determinable orientation information andfurther adapting the game electronic means to electronically determinethe overlay orientation based at least in part upon the electronicallydeterminable orientation information.
 11. The system of claim 1 whereinthe electronically detectable game piece identifier is any of a uniqueidentifier or a non-unique identifier and wherein the physical locationdatum is further adapted to include the game piece identifier.
 12. Thesystem of claim 1 wherein electronically determining any one of or anycombination of a game overlay unique identification code or a game boardbase unique identification code at least in part comprises receivinginformation from the game electronic means or other electronic means,where other electronic means comprises any one of or any combination ofRFID readers, NFC readers and cameras, and wherein otherwise determiningany one of or any combination of a game overlay unique identificationcode or a game board base unique identification code at least in partcomprises a player or user entering information using a game app userinterface.
 13. A method for determining a specific logical location,from amongst a multiplicity of possible logical locations comprising agame overlay, upon which a game piece associated with a unique gameplayer is currently located in an on-going game, where the game piececomprises an electronically determinable identifier, where the gameoverlay comprises an identification code and is overlaid upon a gameboard base, where the game board base comprises an identification codeand a multiplicity of electronically determinable physical locations,and where game electronics determines current physical location datum atleast including a specific physical location substantially over whichthe game piece has been determined to be currently located, comprisingthe steps of: preestablishing a mapping dataset to relate physicallocations on the game base to logical locations on the game overlay,where the mapping dataset is stored in a database and is retrievable oraccessible based at least in part upon the combination of the gamebase's identification code and the game overlay's identification code;providing a game app for communicating with the game electronics toreceive the current physical location datum, and using the game app to:determine an identifier associated with a unique game player forassociating with the game piece identifier; receive or determine thegame base's identification code, receive or determine the game overlay'sidentification code, and receive, retrieve or otherwise access themapping dataset associated with the combination of the game base'sidentification code and the game overlay's identification code, anddetermine the specific logical location upon which the game piece iscurrently located based at least in part upon the mapping dataset and inpart upon the current physical location datum such that the specificlogical location upon which the unique game player is currently locatedis also determined.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the game overlayis overlaid unto the game board base with a specific orientation, wherethe game app further: receives or determines the orientation of the gameoverlay with respect to the game board base, and where determining thespecific logical location upon which the game piece is currently locatedis based at least in part upon the retrieved mapping dataset, in partupon the received current physical location datum and in part upon thedetermined orientation.
 15. The method of claim 13 for determining aspecific logical location further adapted to update a game state of theon-going game in a game database, where the game app is further adaptedto: update or otherwise cause datum reflective of the game state to bestored in a game database, where updates and datum comprise any one ofor any combination of: an association between a game player and a gamepiece identifier; the current or any prior physical location of a gamepiece; the current or any prior logical location of game piece, and anyother information or status including accumulated game play, awardedpoints, achievements and accumulated scores, where accumulated game playincludes information provided by players in response to game clues,questions, messages and other communications.
 16. The method of claim 15for determining a specific logical location and for updating a gamestate in a game database further adapted to provide information orcontent to one or more game players, where the game app is furtheradapted to: receive, retrieve, access or otherwise determine informationor content based at least in part upon any one of or any combination ofgame state datum, and output or otherwise communicate or cause to beoutput any one of or any combination of the information or content. 17.The method of claim 16 wherein the information or content is a secretmessage comprising any one of or any combination of a private audiomessage or a private video message.
 18. The method of claim 15 whereinthe physical location datum further comprises the game piece identifier,where the game piece identifier is any of a unique identifier or anon-unique identifier, and where the game database updates and datumrelated to a physical location or a logical location further comprisethe game piece identifier.
 19. A physical/virtual gaming system,comprising: game board means for providing a layout of physical gamelocations for use in playing any of various games, where the physicallayout is identifiable by a physical layout identification code; gameoverlay means for providing a replaceable layout of logical gamelocations for use in playing or extending play in an on-going game,where the replaceable logical layout is identifiable by a logical layoutidentification code; means for providing any combination of physicalgame locations with any combination of logical game locations byoverlaying a replaceable logical layout onto a physical layout; gameelectronic means for electronically determining a specific physicallocation of a game piece placed substantially over a combination of aspecific physical game location and a specific overlaid logical gamelocation, where the game electronic means includes electronic means fordetermining information for uniquely identifying the specific physicalgame location and electronic means for identifying the game piece;physical-to-logical mapping means comprising a mapping dataset ofpre-known mapping information relating physical game locations withlogical game locations, where the mapping dataset is associated with acombination of the physical layout identification code associated withthe game board comprising the specific physical game location over whichthe game piece is substantially located and the specific logical layoutidentification code associated with the game overlay comprising thespecific logical game location upon which the game piece issubstantially located; a game database comprising game datum; a game appfor determining a specific logical location of the game piece placedsubstantially over the combination of a physical game location and alogical game location, where the game app includes means for: a)receiving, retrieving or otherwise determining the physical layoutidentification code and the logical layout identification code; b)receiving, retrieving or otherwise accessing the mapping datasetassociated with the combination of the physical layout identificationcode and the logical layout identification code; c) communicating withthe electronic means for receiving the current specific physicallocation of the game piece; d) determining the specific logical locationof the game piece based at least in part upon the mapping dataset and atleast in part upon the current specific physical location, and e)determining and otherwise updating the game database with game datum,where game datum includes any one of or any combination of: (1) anassociation between a game player and a game piece identifier; (2) thecurrent or any prior physical locations of a game piece; (3) the currentor any prior logical locations of a game piece, and (4) any other gameinformation or status including accumulated game play, awarded pointsand accumulated scores, where accumulated game play includes informationprovided by players in response to game clues, questions, messages andother communications.
 20. The physical/virtual gaming system of claim19, further comprising: content output means for outputting game contentcomprising any one of or any combination of video, audio, textual, orotherwise content affecting the visual, auditory, tactile or olfactorysenses of a person, where the content to be output is determined by thegaming system based in at least in part upon any one of or anycombination of datum comprising the game database, and where at leastany of the video or audio are either of secret output or non-secretoutput, where secret output is substantially only perceivable by one ormore selected game players and where non-secret output is substantiallycapable of being perceived by any and all game players.